Plus. Large scale housing development

Présentation de l'éditeur :

Introduction

"RÉCUPÉRER LE MODERNISME, Ilka & Andreas Ruby
Les architectes français Druot, Lacaton et Vassal formulent une nouvelle stratégie pour la réhabilitation des grands ensembles de logements en France.
C’est arrivé sans que nous l’ayons vraiment remarqué et
sans que nous puissions exactement dire quand cela a commencé.
Après l’avoir entendu murmurer des milliers de fois à
nos oreilles, nous nous étions presque habitués à considérer
que le chapitre de l’architecture moderne était clos. Une tentative
héroïque de s’échapper hors de l’histoire, mais qui, au
bout du compte, avait échoué. Entre-temps, nous sommes
arrivés dans une “après-histoire” de l’architecture qui, temporellement
parlant, se situe avant le Mouvement Moderne. "(...)

 

During the 20th century housing constituted one of modern architecture’s most fruitful areas of investigation, from the point of view of applying new technologies and the development of architectonic archetypes as well as from the planning of the city and the social role of architecture. One result of this are big apartment-block complexes put up in the 1960s, many of which present enormous problems of upkeep. If to begin with they were built to alleviate the pressing housing needs of the immigrant population, today they adapt badly to current new living patterns.

In contrast to traditional policies of rehabilitation or demolition and replacement carried out hitherto, the architects Frédéric Druot, Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal face these issues from an ingenious angle by proposing a radical transformation. Based on an interpretation of the pre-existing, they posit a surgical intervention with the aim of granting dwellings more space, more sunlight, more freedom of use and more services.

Such a recycling operation turns out to be more economic than the usual policies of demolition and replacement. This publication brings together their schemes for transforming six housing complexes in France.
The first four, in Aulnay-sous-Bois, Le Havre, Nantes and Trignac, are the outcome of an assignment undertaken for the French Ministry of Culture and Communication, while the last two, in Saint-Nazaire and Paris, are the winning projects of two competitions.